Superhero Complex
by CBloom2
Summary: Would he ever learn? This Superhero Complex of his would get himself killed!


**Hello, I'm back. I have been struggling with ideas lately, but one has popped into my head so I'm going to subject you all to it!**

**As usual, it involves our favourite brothers and obviously, because it's me, one of them is in a bit of bother. **

**As you know, I don't own anyone that you recognise, if I did, Ethan would have planted a great big kiss on Honey last night! He was so cute!**

**Also I have never been in an Emergency Department on a Friday night so please excuse my generalisation of the people sat in the waiting room.**

**Anyway, enough...onwards...**

Superhero Complex

'Ah, the Friday night shift' Dr Ethan Hardy thought as he stood and perused the scene in front of him in the waiting area of the ED. People slumped on chairs with shoes hanging off, ladies with tights shredded and ankles swollen, half asleep on the small plastic chairs.

"You ready for this?" A soft voice came from behind him. He turned to see Charlie stood there, his usual unflappable self, a small smile gracing his face.

"This is why I became a doctor," Ethan chuckled, as the phone rang behind him. Ethan looked hopeful as Charlie answered the phone, maybe something more exciting than a broken ankle was on its way. The older man's forehead creased as he listened to the details, scribbling furiously on the paper in front of him. He put the phone down and called Lofty and Robyn to him, then he called Ethan.

The younger man listened intently as Charlie relayed the phone call, "Two victims, it's a stabbing. There was a fight at a club in town. Police are with them, they should be here any moment. Ethan you're with the first patient and I'll fetch Zoe for the stabbed patient..."

Ethan nodded is ascent, already turning towards the door, totally unaware of the other arrangements being made by the other staff members, and concerned glances thrown his way.

Presently, the doors flew open as two paramedics, two policemen and one patient was wheeled through the door, "This is Paul, he was in the fight. He has bruises to his head and knuckles. He was punched and hit his head when he fell, he didn't lose conciousness, but we brought him in as a precaution..."

Ethan nodded as he digested the information, "Great, this cubicle...thanks."

As Ethan pulled the curtain round, the two policemen strode in, "Erm, is this really necessary?" It made him feel uneasy.

"He's in custody, being the perpretrator and all. He was molesting some man's girlfriend...and when he was confronted, he pulled a knife!"

"He hit me first!" Paul yelled, anger clearly evident on his face.

The younger doctor looked surprised, "Why would you carry a knife on a night out? Surely you go out for a night of fun?"

The man on the bed just sneered at the doctor, "You never know what might happen out there!"

Ethan took a deep breath as he shook his head. He would never understand some people.

He spent the next ten to fifteen minutes checking the man over, then pronounced him fit enough to go for a CT scan, to make sure there wasn't anything that he had missed.

He watched the police accompany his patient, then went to the sink to wash his hands. He looked towards Resus as he washed, knowing that the victim of his patient was being treated in there. What he hadn't been prepared for though, was the sight of Taylor, his brother's girlfriend, being escorted out of the room by Lofty.

Ethan suddenly felt sick to his stomach. He became aware of his heart starting to pound in his chest. His head became fuzzy, "Lofty?" he called.

The young nurse and Taylor stopped, surprised to see him, "Ethan..."

Ethan then caught Taylor's eyes - full of tears, "It's Cal..." she whispered as a tear dropped down her face.

"Is...Is...he..." Ethan couldn't finish the question - his voice wouldn't work.

He dashed into Resus, stopping dead in the middle of the room. Zoe and Robyn were both working on his brother...his brother, who was laid as still as death on the bed. He could vaguely hear a monitor, it's beeping was the only thing telling the young doctor that the person on the bed was still alive.

"He's still losing blood, we need to get some more into him!"

Robyn ran to the phone to call for some more, only noticing Ethan when she looked back at Cal, "Ethan..."

Zoe looked round in shock, "You shouldn't be in here Ethan," she told the obviously shocked doctor.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Ethan growled, ignoring the surprise on Zoe's face at his tone.

"You had a patient, and as you know, you can't treat a member of your family...I didn't want you distracted," Zoe told him.

"I had a patient..." Ethan stopped, gasping, as he suddenly realised that the person he had been treating was the man who had stabbed his brother. Robyn put the phone down and made her way over to the stricken man, but Ethan waved her away.

Tentatively, he walked towards the prone figure. He could see why they needed more blood. Cal's abdomen was just a mess of red, "God," he breathed, "Will he be alright?" was all he could think of to say to Zoe.

Zoe's heart broke for the distraught young man. She had never seen Ethan look so concerned about his brother before, "We are sending him for a scan once we get some more blood in him, see what sort of damage has been done internally, but I'm confident that he will be fine," she insisted as she hung up some of the blood that had arrived without Ethan noticing.

Suddenly, Ethan is aware of his brother's voice, very weak, but definitely his brother's. He walked quickly up to the head of the bed, where he saw his brother's eyes struggling to open. He was beginning to feel quite awkward. He had never been in a situation like this with Cal before, it felt very alien to him. He didn't know whether to take his hand, or touch him at all! Cal's head began to move from side to side as if he was starting to panic, so Ethan gently took hold of it and guided his face so that the older man could see him, "Ethan..." Cal whispered.

"Hey there," was all Ethan could think of to say. Cal was extrememly pale, with a thin sheen of sweat covering his face.

"What did you think you were doing?" Ethan asked.

"Taylor...is she..." Cal was already tiring.

"Taylor is fine. Lofty is with her at the moment. I will go to see her soon."

Ethan found himself stroking one side of his brother's face with his thumb, which seemed to relax the older man, "This superhero complex of yours has got to stop Cal...you could've been..." He swallowed hard, not wanting to even contemplate what could have happened.

Suddenly, he felt a gently hand on his shoulder, "Ethan we're taking him for a scan now..."  
"Dr Hanna, I can't treat that patient...knowing what he did..."

Zoe smiled kindly, "I don't expect you to. Go and sit with Taylor in the relatives room - I'll update you as soon as I can."

With that his brother was whisked away from him, leaving him stood on his own in the middle of Resus, surrounded by the bloody packs used to stem the flow of his brother's blood. He couldn't move. At that moment in time, he had never felt more alone. Cal was all he had left - was he going to lose him? No, no he couldn't lose him, not now. He felt tears beginning to sting his eyes as he ran a shaking hand through his hair.

"Ethan?"

He looked up to see Lofty coming through the door, "You ok?" the young nurse asked, "I know, stupid question," he said as he saw the look on Ethan's face.

"I'd better see Taylor," Ethan replied, finally managing to move himself.

He all but ran into the relatives room, finding Taylor curled up on a sofa, tears coursing down her cheeks. She sat up a little straighter when she saw Ethan enter the room, "How is he?" she asked.

Ethan sat next to her, "He's gone for a scan. They've had to give him some blood, but he should be alright..."

"He wouldn't leave it alone," she told him tearfully, "Yes the guy was a weasel but I could handle myself, but Cal...he..."

"Superhero complex," Ethan said, thoughtfully.

"Pardon?" Taylor questioned.

Ethan smiled slightly, "I call it his superhero complex. He was the same when I was at school. As you may have noticed, we're quite different from each other, and of course at school being different meant being picked on, but Cal was always there to keep them away from me...I once made him a Superman cape...he wasn't that impressed," Ethan chuckled as he recalled the memory, "I suppose it was because he was sixteen at the time...not cool."

Taylor smiled as she wiped the tears away, "He regrets those years estranged from you you know? We've had some long conversations about you Ethan," she told him.

"Oh dear, poor you," he smiled.

"Although he may not always show it, he thinks the world of you..."

"And I feel the same...but don't tell him - I'll never hear the end of it!"

They both burst out laughing.

"Why don't you go home and get some sleep. I'm here all night anyway, so I'll stay with him and I promise I will phone you if anything changes."  
For a moment, it looked as though Taylor was going to argue, but then thought better of it. She knew in her heart, that Cal would want to see Ethan when he woke, and she was actually fine with that. She got to her feet, closely followed by Ethan, who led her to the reception, where Lofty was on the computer, "Lofty, would you mind sorting a taxi for Taylor. She's going to go and get some rest..."

Lofty smiled, "Of course..."

Taylor turned and hugged Ethan, "You phone me, whatever time."

"You have my word!"

A few hours later, an exhausted Ethan was sat in an uncomfortable plastic chair by his brother's bedside. Luckily, there hadn't been any internal damage and now that the extra blood had gone in, Cal was starting to look more like his old self. Ethan rubbed his face as he felt his eyes closing, then jumped to his feet and began pacing the floor in a bid to keep himself awake.

"Will you sit down - you're exhausting," he heard coming from the bed.

He immediately ceased his pacing and stood by his brother's bed, "How you feeling?"

"Like I've been sliced open..." Cal tried to laugh, but gasped at the pain it caused.

"Stay still. It's going to be sore for a while - but you're going to be fine," the younger man informed him, "I sent Taylor home to rest - she was exhaused, but she'll be back in the morning I'm sure."

Cal nodded his thanks as his eyes began to close again. Ethan waited until his breathing evened out before gently placing a hand on his brother's arm, "Please don't do that to me again. I couldn't bear it. You're probably awake like I was but I don't care - I need you in my life Cal. Although we are so different, we kind of click together, two parts of one puzzle. I can't lose you ever again, I just can't," he couldn't go on - emotions long buried made themselves known. He dropped into the chair, throughly spent, his hand landing on the bed. Suddenly he felt a slight movement and his brother's hand was laid on top of his own. He turned his round and they held each others hand - a bond never to be broken.

**Not sure if that ending is a bit cheesy but that's what it's going to be. Hope it was ok. If anyone has any ideas I would love to hear them. Thank you for reading.**


End file.
